Where is the Nazca plateau? Nazca Lines

Do not do all sorts of evil to your enemy, because perhaps he will become your friend.

In terms of game strategy, there are 5 resource-goals, which are advisable for any potential king to take care of, starting from the first day of play:

• money
• right to the throne
• honor
• relations with the lords

For globally minded players, the guide is essentially finished. The rest of it was written for the overwhelming number of people who are primarily interested in the question “how to do it?” Alas, most of them are unlikely to understand why the “right to the throne” or “relationship” is a resource. Therefore, this article is written in the form of a collection of specific tips and warnings.

The beginning of the way

The first step towards success is. Opinions and preferences differ, but one of the most promising and simple ways start - create a robber with trophy collection skill = 9(!). To do this, when creating a character, you must answer questions in the following order:
Mysterious person=>left you to your own devices=>Scientist(?)=>bright prospects and thrills.
The scientist's choice is justified by the free book. ( dubious bonus - approx. edit)

An alternative answer is "Mercenary Trader", which will give you +2 inventory (storekeeper). My choice instead of a scientist.
BOPOH

The path of the robber (Raiding & Looting) will allow you to quickly equip your character and companions with quality items without spending dinars.

At the beginning of the game, it is very important to choose your opponents, time and place of battle wisely. In addition to military-mercantile interests, the politics of relations with various factions, including. Does this seem like a minor issue at first glance? Just wait for any knight patrols to spawn, small squads consisting of several elite warriors of the faction. And imagine how much you can counter against, say, 5 Knights of the Lion on the third game day.

Get companions into your squad as quickly as possible and use any opportunities for or join the battles on the side of the main factions against the minors. If your contribution to the battle was significant, then you will receive +4 to relations with the faction (-4 to minor).

While leveling up your squad and accumulating initial capital, you need to stay away from independent clashes with and.
You need to work with (Mistmountain, as they are also called) and gangs of various bandits. Then, when you get stronger, switch to .

Choice

Sooner or later there comes a stage where you will need to make a choice further path from 3 options:

• remain independent
• sign a mercenary contract
• take a vassal oath

The most profitable with financial point The best option is to become a mercenary; this profession pays well. But remember that all the castles and cities that you helped capture as a mercenary or even did it single-handedly will pass you by to the king.

The most profitable option from a financial point of view is to become a mercenary. The contract is signed for 30 game days, during which the king who hired your squad will pay a substantial weekly salary, depending on the size and quality of the squad. This money is more than enough not only for the maintenance of the detachment, but also for “a good drink and snack.”

Swearing allegiance to the king is also a good option, which will provide you with a land plot (village), but the maintenance of the detachment in this option falls entirely on your shoulders (taxes from the village do not cover even a tenth of the costs).
It makes sense to remain independent only if you have assembled a significant force capable of taking a castle on a spear - the basis for your future kingdom. Again, if the political situation contributes to this.

Your first castle is the foundation of an independent kingdom

Once again, choose your first lock carefully. Check faction relations for war. It is much easier to capture and hold a castle that is claimed by two sides than to storm a citadel with a strong garrison, not battered by sieges, and moreover belonging to a side that is not conducting military operations (in this case, already on the second or third day to “your "A big bunch of lords will come to the castle for a showdown).

You are very lucky if you discovered a city (!) with a small garrison in time, because having captured the city, you automatically become the owner of the nearest villages (from 1 to 5). The number of villages for each city is fixed; you can see it in the information about the city. And villages are a resource for attracting your own lords. For starters, it would be a good idea to distribute them to your nobles.

After capturing the castle, be sure to start a massive collection of recruits through the seneschal. An attempt to carry out retribution on the part of AI will not take long to arrive. Be prepared, after the declaration of independence, to see an army of 800-1000 people thirsting for revenge under the walls of your “native” castle.

Decide on the culture of your kingdom. The “faction” affiliation of the recruits in your domain will depend on this choice. The chance is 80/20 against receiving a recruit from the previous owning faction. (For example, if you chose the Sarleon culture by taking over the Ravenstern domain.)

Note that Pendor as your title culture has fairly weak offensive units. However, they are cheap and good defensive soldiers - ideal for large garrisons. Pendoran noble recruits have largest selection upgrade to knights of many orders. (In other words, the Knights of Pendor make up the majority of the order's knights, including the Knights of Dusk and Dawn - the strongest in the game).

Once you have accumulated a solid squad of 200-300 mid- and top-level warriors, you can begin to improve relations with various lords. The easiest way is to release them after the battle (instead of taking them prisoner).
This method will give you experience, valuable loot, prisoners, and most importantly - HONOR. Once you pass a certain honor limit, your relations with godly lords will begin to improve automatically, which will make it possible to attract them to your side.

Don’t create too many enemies, ideally you should wage a war on one front, and don’t get carried away with plundering villages, because these are YOUR villages... in the future.

Let me remind you once again, Prophesy of Pendor 3 is a challenging mod for advanced players. If you can't handle a situation, use your brain to solve it. Buy mercenaries from taverns to increase your army's combat effectiveness.

Cautions

• Beware of crossbows - their shots are deadly.
• Beware of pikes and spears - their blows are deadly.
• Beware of bows - get away from the massive shelling.
• Beware of small patrols friendly to powerful invading armies. This is a bait for you, which will allow, for example, the Legion of Terror to join the battle and devour you.
• Be careful with your saves! An error may occur after the 500th day of play. It is recommended to keep saves in all available slots, and also keep a couple of backup saves in taverns.
• But most importantly, evaluate correctly own strength when choosing opponents. The armies of the lords have been carefully balanced and almost each of them has unique troops that make up a significant part of the squad
• Beware royal troops- armies of mercenaries may follow them (check before engaging in battle).

I started translating one of the chapters

Method 1: In Malaysia, the title of monarch is elective. Malaysia is divided into states, 9 of which are themselves monarchies. They are ruled by 7 sultans, one raja and another ruler with the title Yang Dipertuan Besar. Every five years, these monarchs choose a chief king from among their number.

Method 2: The Araucan Indian tribe in Chile, under the name of King Antoine I, was ruled by the Frenchman Aurélie-Antoine de Tounant for several years. He even managed to wage an official war with Chile, in which, however, the Araucanians were defeated.

Method 3: Peter III rules Russia for only six months - he was killed as a result palace coup, headed by his wife, future empress Catherine II.

Method 4: John of Luxembourg was the Czech king for almost 20 years in the 14th century, but he was almost never in the Czech Republic. Instead, he traveled around Europe and participated in different battles either for the French or for the German knights.

Method 5: Albanian President Ahmet Zogu, who later became the king of this country, survived more than 50 attempts on his life. Once he had to personally shoot back at assassins, and this is the only similar case in modern history.

Method 6: The Sealand State is an abandoned military platform called Raf's Tower, which was taken over by retired British Army Major Paddy Roy Bates in 1966. Sealand has its own flag, coat of arms, constitution, coins and postage stamps, although it remains unrecognized by other states.

Method 7: If there are no kings, you need to invent them! The Swede John Magnus in the 16th century came up with 5 Erics before Eric the Victorious and 6 Charleses before Karl Sverkersson. Famous King Charles XII was in fact only the sixth.

Method 8: The Portuguese Prince Henry the Navigator never sailed and generally did not go anywhere from Portugal. He received his nickname because he was the organizer of many sea expeditions.

Method 9: The July Revolution of 1830 prompted the French King Charles to abdicate the throne, and he demanded the abdication of his eldest son, who signed the abdication 20 minutes after his father. However, from a formal point of view, he reigned as Louis XIX for these 20 minutes.

Method 10: When the Germans occupied the Netherlands during World War II, the royal family was evacuated to Canada. There, the current Queen Juliana gave birth to a daughter, Margrit. The ward in the maternity hospital where the birth took place was declared outside Canadian jurisdiction by a special decree of the Canadian government. After all, having received Canadian citizenship by birth, Princess Margriet would not have been able to lay claim to the Dutch throne. In gratitude, the Dutch royal family still sends thousands of tulip bulbs to Ottawa every year for the Tulip Festival.

The Nazca Desert is located in the south of Peru, 450 kilometers from Lima. This is the region inhabited by the pre-Incan Nazca civilization (1st-6th centuries AD).

The Nazca people waged war and traded, but their main activities were fishing and farming. In addition to this, the Nazca were wonderful artists and architects - we can judge this from the found ceramic products of this culture and the ruins of ancient cities. There is plenty of evidence high level development of this civilization, the main of which, undoubtedly, are the Nazca Lines - huge geoglyphs in the desert, visible only from a bird's eye view.

What to see

Nazca Lines

Giant paintings in the desert depicting animals and various items- Nazca Lines - were discovered in 1926. Researchers suggest that the geoglyphs were created in 300-800 by the Nazca civilization. They were called “the largest calendar in the world”, “the most gigantic book about astronomy” - their exact purpose remains unknown.

The area where the Nazca Lines are located covers 500 km2 and is located in the desert, where it rains only half an hour a year. It is this fact that has allowed geoglyphs to survive to this day.

These drawings were first described in 1548, but for many years no one paid serious attention to them. Perhaps this was due to the fact that you can only get a good look at them from a height, and they began to fly airplanes over the desert much later. In the early 1940s, during the construction of the Pan-American Highway, an American professor invited to study coastal hydrology regularly flew small planes over the valleys. It was he who drew attention to the strange lines folding into huge drawings. The sight that unfolded shocked and amazed him. Professor Kosok and other scientists have devoted many years to studying these lines. They were able to discover a connection between the location of the lines and the sun on the days of the summer and winter solstices, as well as indications of the moon, planets and bright constellations. It seemed that the Nazca civilization had built a giant observatory here.

The technique for creating geoglyphs was very simple: the top darkened layer was cut off from the soil and folded here, along the resulting light strip, creating a roller of a darker color framing the lines. Over time, the color of the lines has darkened and become less contrasting, but we can still see the drawings left by the Nazca civilization.

How to watch
Nazca has several companies that fly sightseeing flights in small planes over the desert. This is because due to the number of people wishing to inspect the Line of seats on the desired date in last moment it may not turn out to be.

An alternative way to see the lines is to go up to the observation deck on the Panamericana Highway (El Mirador). The cost of lifting is 2 sols (20 rubles), but you will only be able to see 2 drawings.

Palpa Lines

Unlike the Nazca drawings, the Palpa Lines consist more of human images and geometric designs. According to archaeological research, the Palpa Lines belong to more early period than the Nazca Lines. Flying along the Palpa Lines you can see the image of a Pelican, an image of a woman, a man and a boy, whom archaeologists nicknamed “The Family”. One of the Palpa Lines is an image of a Hummingbird - similar to one of the Nazca Lines geoglyphs. The Other Line is read by archaeologists as an image of a Dog near the Square. Near the city of Palpa you can see famous image Sundial and Tumi - a ritual knife.

Ruins of Cahuachi

The most important and powerful city of the Nazca civilization was Cahuachi - a city in the Nazca Valley, 24 km from modern city Nazca. Excavations are still underway here. Today all that remains of the city are:

• The Central Pyramid is 28 meters high and 100 meters wide, consisting of 7 steps. Religious ceremonies were held here.
• Step Temple 5 meters high and 25 meters wide
• 40 buildings made of adobe (unbaked brick)

Near the city there was a necropolis, in which scientists found untouched burials with various items, which were customary to be placed in graves (dishes, fabrics, jewelry, etc.). All finds can be seen in Archaeological Museum Antonini (Museo Arqueológico Antonini) in Nazca.

Necropolis of Chauchilla (El cementerio de Chauchilla)

The Necropolis of Chauchilla is located 30 km from the city of Nazca. This is the only place in Peru where you can see mummies ancient civilization directly in the graves where they were found. This cemetery was used from the 3rd to 9th centuries AD, but the main burials date back to 600-700 years. The mummies were well preserved thanks to the arid desert climate, as well as the embalming technology used by the Nazcas: the bodies of deceased people were wrapped in cotton fabric, painted with paints and impregnated with resins. It was the resins that helped avoid the decomposing effects of bacteria.
The necropolis was discovered in 1920, but is officially recognized archaeological site and was taken under protection only in 1997. Before that, he suffered for many years from looters who stole a significant part of the Nazca treasures.

2-hour guided tour - 30 Soles

Entrance ticket to the Necropolis - 5 Soleils

San Fernando Nature Reserve (Bahía de San Fernando)

About 80 km from Nazca there is a reserve very similar to Paracas. Here you can also see penguins, sea lions, dolphins, and various birds. And in addition, Andean foxes, guanacos and condors are found in San Fernando.

It is difficult to get here and there are almost no tourists here.In San Fernando you can spend time alone with nature and the Pacific Ocean!

Cantayoc Aqueducts

The Nazcas were a very advanced civilization. In desert conditions, where the river is filled with water only for 40 days a year, Nazca farmers needed a system that would allow them to have water throughout the year. They solved this problem by creating a magnificent aqueduct system. One of them is the Cantayoc Aqueducts, located less than 5 km from the city of Nazca and are a chain of spiral wells.

When to go

Nazca is located in the desert, where it is almost always dry and sunny. December to March is the hottest time in this region, with average daily temperatures hovering around 27C. June to September are the coldest months of the year, with daytime temperatures as low as 18C.

How to get to Nazca

Nazca is located 450 kilometers south of Lima. You can get here by car along the Panamericana Highway, or by one of the many buses that go in this direction. The bus trip will take 7 hours.

Looking at the huge drawings on the surface of the Earth, photographs of which were taken from the air, the question arises: could people have done this? The most mysterious place on the planet is considered the Nazca plateau, which surprised scientists 100 years ago with its mysterious drawings. Until now, scientists have put forward various theories the appearance of these drawings, but none of them gave an exact answer about the origin of these masterpieces.

Let's follow the scientists' research a little and try to find some explanation for these drawings.

The Nazca plateau or pampa, as it is called, is located 450 km from the capital of Peru - Lima. Its length is 60 km and 500 sq. meters is covered with various mysterious lines that make up mysterious drawings. The drawings present in this area are images of geometric shapes, animals, insects and amazing people appearance. The drawings can only be seen from the air, as they are huge images.

When examining the area, it was found that the drawings were dug into sandy soil to a depth of 10-30 cm, and the width of some lines could be up to 100 meters (!). The lines of the drawings can be several kilometers long, while literally not changing from the influence of the shape of the terrain. The lines rise and fall from the hills, but their continuity and perfect evenness are not broken. The question immediately arises: who is the creator of such a picture in the desert - peoples unknown to us or aliens from distant space? But scientists have not yet been able to find an answer to this question.

To date, scientists have been able to accurately determine the age of this “painting.” Scientists carefully examined the remains of plant and organic origin found in the places of the drawings and found that the drawings were created in a period of time starting from 350 BC. to 600 BC

But this fact is not an accurate proof of the date of appearance of the drawings, since these objects could have come here after the creation of the drawings. There is also another scientific theory that says that the drawings are the work of the Nazca Indians, who could have inhabited this region of Peru (even before the arrival of the Incas). After the disappearance of this people, not a single historical mention of them remained on Earth, except for burials. And therefore scientists cannot say for sure about the involvement of a given people to the drawings.

Let's take a look into historical sources, which mention Nazca drawings. They were first mentioned by Spanish researchers in their manuscripts, which date back to the 15th – 17th centuries. In our time, these information sources have attracted the attention of modern scientists, but the most interesting discoveries became available during the creation of the first aircraft, since the lines of the drawings form a single whole and reveal their secret only from a bird's eye view.

The first scientist to discover the Nazca paintings themselves was the Peruvian archaeologist Mejia Xesspe, who saw part of them from an elephant in one of the mountains in 1927. They began to really explore Nazca in the 40s, when the first photographs of drawings taken from an airplane appeared. These studies were led by the American historian Paul Kosok. But in fact, in anticipation of the first photographs of the Nazca drawings, they were discovered by pilots who were searching for water sources in the desert. We were looking for water, but we found the most mysterious mystery of our planet.

Kosok at one time put forward one of the many theories that suggested that the drawings were nothing more than a huge astronomical calendar. For clarity, he cited similar drawings from the starry sky. It turned out that some lines show the direction of the constellations and indicate the point of sunrise and sunset. Kosok's theory was developed in the work of mathematician and astronomer Maria Reiche, who devoted more than 40 years to systematizing and studying the Nazca paintings. She managed to find out that the drawings in the Nazca desert were made by hand.

The first figures drawn were birds and animals, and then on top of these drawings were drawn different lines. The scientist also managed to find sketches, which were later embodied in full size. Ancient “artists” used coordinate poles to more accurately navigate the terrain and draw up accurate drawings. These landmarks were located at some points of the figures. If the figures can only be observed from high height, then the conclusion suggests itself that the people who applied them to the surface of the earth could fly. Thus a new theory emerged that the creators of the Nazca paintings were an extraterrestrial civilization or created an airfield for aircraft.

It subsequently turned out that Nazca is not the only place that has such images. 10 km from the plateau (near the city of Palpa) there are similar drawings and lines, and at a distance of 1400 km near Mount Solitari there is a huge statue of a man surrounded by lines and drawings similar to the Nazca drawings. In the Western Cordillera in close proximity from Nazca there are two drawn labyrinths of a spiral shape, with in different directions turns. What’s most surprising is that a cosmic ray hits this area 1-5 times a year and illuminates this area for 20 minutes. There is even a statement local residents that if you get into this beam, you can be cured of various diseases. Similar patterns were found in various countries world - Ohio (USA), England, in Africa, Altai and Southern Urals. They are all different, but one thing they have in common is that they are not intended for earthly viewing.

While conducting excavations in the Nazca territory, scientists found new mysteries for themselves. Drawings were found on the shards, which showed evidence that the inhabitants of this area knew about penguins. Scientists could not find another explanation for the found drawing of a penguin on one of the shards. Archaeologists also managed to find many underground passages and tunnels. Part of these structures is an irrigation system, and the other part belongs to underground city. There are tombs and ruins of underground temples here.

One of the theories is the hypothesis of the origin of the Nazca paintings associated with the activity alien civilizations. This hypothesis was first put forward by the Swiss writer Erich von Däniken. He claimed that aliens visited our planet in the Nazca region, but he is not sure that the drawings were their work. According to his theory, the drawings are intended to summon aliens who have left our planet. The triangles informed the alien pilots about the presence of crosswinds, and the rectangles informed the landing site.

Straight lines in the form of recesses could be filled with a flammable substance and serve as an indicator of the direction of the landing strips. This theory is fantastic and is not taken seriously in scientific world, but even the writer managed to sow doubts in the scientific theories of the origin of the Nazca drawings. This is where the theory of energy flows arose, which testifies to the connection between humanity and alien intelligence. One example is a huge image of the “Paracas candelabra,” a design on a mountainside on the Peruvian Paracas Peninsula.

Scientists believe the candelabra is information source about our planet. The left side of the picture contains information about the earth's fauna, and the right side about the flora. General image made in the form human face. Where the top of the drawing is located, the ancient inhabitants of Nazca installed a pointer, which is a scale of civilization development. According to the same theory, there is an opinion that our civilization was created by aliens from the constellation Leo. Perhaps the composition of straight lines was created by aliens to mark the runway for their ships.

There is other evidence for this theory. Scientists from England managed to study the component muscle mass Inca mummies. And the results were simply amazing. The blood of the Incas had no analogues with the blood groups of the inhabitants of the Earth historical period. This blood type is a very rare combination...

But of course, the truth is born in a dispute. And that’s why those who reject all alien theories found it. In the early 80s, a group of students, taking wooden shovels with them, created an “elephant” that resembles the Nazca drawings. But their conviction did not have much influence, and in our time there are many supporters of alien participation in the creation of huge drawings.

Options for theories of the appearance of large drawings on Earth:
Animal drawings were created as a memory of the global flood.
Nazca drawings are one of the ancient zodiac calendars.
The drawn figures are created for ritual ceremonies of the water culture, and the lines represent the direction of the aqueducts.
The trajectory of the drawings was used for sprint races (though this is hard to believe).
Nazca lines and drawings are an encrypted message, a kind of code. It contains Pi, radian degrees (360°), decimal number system, etc.
The drawings were drawn by shamans under the influence of strong hallucinogens (admittedly, the theory is funny).

No matter how many different theories about the origin and purpose of the Nazca drawings are put forward, the mystery remains unrevealed. Besides this mysterious plateau presents humanity with new mysteries. New researchers are constantly being sent to this area of ​​Peru. This area is accessible to both scientists and tourists, but will a person be able to open the curtain of mystery that hides the true purpose of the drawings from us?

Beneath the Nazca Plateau means a plain located on a hill. This area, as a rule, has a flat or undulating, slightly dissected topography. From other plain spaces of Nazcaseparated by obvious ledges. This natural formation is located in Peru, in its southern part, 450 km southeast of Lima, the capital of the country. However, this territory is notable not for its unusual location, but for its Nazca paintings., located over an area of ​​80 kilometers. These images or as they are also called the Nazca lines, made in a bizarre form: from the outlines of animals, spiders and birds, to geometric shapes. Drawings in the Nazca Desertare one of the most important mysteries for the modern research community. Dozens of activists struggle every day in so far aimless attempts to answer at least some questions regarding the mysterious images.

Nazca is a geoglyphic territory.

The plateau is vast and extends for many kilometers. This valley was considered lifeless for a long time, however, the researchers were wrong, but more on that later. Nazca coordinates, where the geoglyphs are located: 14° 45′ south latitude and 75° 05′ west longitude. The Nazca plate has an elongated shape. From north to south the length reaches approximately fifty kilometers, from west to east from 5 to 7 kilometers. The Nazca area is practically uninhabited by people and has an extremely dry climate.

Winter in the vast Nazca area lasts from June to September. This is because in the Southern Hemisphere the seasons do not coincide with those in the Northern Hemisphere. At the same time, the temperature in Nazca never drops below 16 degrees Celsius. In summer, the temperature is stable and stays around 25 degrees Celsius. Rain, despite the close location of the ocean, is a rarity for Nazca. There is also virtually no wind. There are no rivers, streams or lakes in the Nazca area and there cannot be such conditions. The presence of water in these lands is signaled only by the numerous channels of the Nazca rivers that dried up a long time ago and no less numerous dried up canals.

No less important component of this region than the Nazca Valley is the city with the corresponding name. It was founded by the Spaniards in 1591. In 1996, the city was completely destroyed by a strong earthquake. But, fortunately, there were few casualties, since the tremors began at noon and people were prepared. A total of 17 people died during the Nazca earthquake. And about 100 thousand people were left homeless. To date, the city of Nazca has been completely rebuilt. Multi-storey buildings were built on its territory, and the center of the city of Nazca is now decorated with a beautiful square.

However, this area is notable not for its city or plain, but for its mysterious geoglyphs, lines and drawings, which are believed to have been made by skillful human hands. However, the last statement is very, very controversial. There is a popular theory regarding Nazca, according to which the lines on the plateau were not drawn by man, but by an alien intelligence or some other unknown force.

Stunning drawings in the Nazca desert.

In total, specialists discovered 13 thousand various lines and stripes on the plateau. In science, these drawings have their own name - geoglyphs ( geometric figures bizarre shapes, made in earthen soil and having a length of at least four meters). In our case, the drawings in the Nazca Desert are shallow and long grooves of varying widths dug in the soil, which is a mixture of sand and clay. Shallow by Nazca standards - this is from 15 to 30 cm. But the length of individual lines reaches several kilometers: the longest reach 10 kilometers in length. The width of the drawings in the Nazca desert is also striking: B in some cases it ranges from 150 to 200 meters.

In addition to lines, all sorts of figures were found on the territory of the plateau, well known to every person from geometry - triangles and quadrangles. Some Nazca Desert designs are trapezoidal because they only have two parallel sides. There are about seven hundred such creations of unknown origin on the plateau. There are also figures that resemble animals: monkeys, birds, killer whales, llamas and other inhabitants of flora and fauna. Single drawings in the Nazca desert depict fish, spiders, lizards and sharks. There are not many of them in total, no more than forty.

The figures amaze the imagination with their enormous size, but people are unable to understand their true purpose. Obviously, the answer may lie in the depths of the plain, which means that in order to understand who created the drawings in the Nazca desert and why, it is necessary to begin excavations. The problem is that archaeological excavations are prohibited here, since the plain has the status of a sacred zone. So the mystery of the drawings in the Nazca desert remains unsolved. And something tells me that it will remain like this for a very, very long time, until the scientific community comes to its senses.

Mysterious Nazca Lines.

However, no matter how sacred this land is, human curiosity has never stopped at anything and is not going to stop. The first person suffering from the “vice” of curiosity found himself in these forbidden lands in 1927. He was an archaeologist from Peru, Mejia Toribio Hesspe. He studied the Nazca Lines from the foothills surrounding the plateau.

In 1930, a mysterious piece of land where Nazca lines, anthropologists studied from a bird's eye view, flying around on an airplane. They, in fact, confirmed the fact of the presence of lines in Nazca. Archaeologists got the opportunity to closely study such unique creations only in 1946. But this was not a targeted state or research program with appropriate funding, and separate expeditions of enthusiastic scientists.

It turned out that our distant ancestors or alien entities made the Nazca lines and small trenches by removing the surface of a clay soil layer rich in iron oxide. The gravel has been almost completely removed from the Nazca Lines section, and underneath is light-colored soil. As a result, the Nazca lines became so catchy and at the same time durable.

The light-colored soil of the local lands surrounding the paintings on the Nazca plateau boasts a high lime content. On outdoors it hardens almost instantly and forms a durable protective layer that perfectly prevents erosion. For this reason, the mysterious Nazca Lines have been preserved in their original form for thousands of years, at least this is the opinion of researchers. The longevity of the Nazca lines was also facilitated by the absence of winds as such, precipitation and stable air temperatures. If the climate had been different, these drawings would have disappeared from the face of the earth long before they were discovered.

However, they exist and their presence has puzzled more than one generation of researchers, archaeologists and simply scientists from all over the world. Official science, which has long formed its attitude towards the Nazca lines, claims that all these geoglyphs, lines and drawings were created during the Nazca civilization. There was this ancient empire, is assumed to be from 300 BC to 800 AD. A significant part of scientists agree that most of the drawings were created during this period of 1100 years. It is believed that the Nazca Civilization had a very developed culture, the golden age of which dates back to 100-200 AD.

The Nazca Plateau and its mystical civilization.

The Nazca civilization sank into oblivion presumably at the end of the 8th century. The reason for this was allegedly the floods that the Nazca plateau encountered towards the end of the first millennium. The waters flooded and destroyed the agricultural lands of the ancient people. Some people died of hunger, the rest were forced to leave the poor land. A few centuries later, the Nazca plateau was inhabited by the Incas. However, this was already a completely different, and a different culture, whose customs certainly did not include drawing giant lines on the ground.

Well, let's say ancient people Nazca plateau really created mysterious creations on this earth, but why were they created, and most importantly, how could the aborigines make trenches several kilometers long on rough terrain. Even using modern techniques and devices, it is extremely difficult to draw an ideal straight line along the ground, say, 5-8 kilometers long.

In accordance with the theory of scientists, they did all this once or twice. Over the course of some centuries, the Nazca Plateau has turned from a lifeless valley into the most bizarre and richest territory in geoglyphs on the whole Earth. The first settlers crossed ravines and hills, but at the same time they geometric lines, Nazca geoglyphs, remained perfectly correct, and the edges were strictly parallel, which seems incredible. In addition to the stripes and trenches in the Nazca plateau, unknown artists also created figures of various animals. From the air they appear, although bizarre, but easily recognizable. Again, how the first people in these lands managed to depict, say, a hummingbird with such accuracy is categorically unclear.

The mentioned hummingbird, by the way, like many Nazcas, reaches fifty meters in length. Another picture bird, the condor, is 120 meters long. And the spider, similar to its relatives living in the Amazon jungle, boasts a length of 46 meters. It is noteworthy that all these masterpieces of the Nazca plateau can only be seen by rising high into the air or climbing some mountain, which, unfortunately, is not nearby. From the ground and small hills, these patterns are indistinguishable and appear as a simple series of lines and trenches. Of course, you can make out individual silhouettes and strokes, however, full picture visible only from the air.

Obviously, the civilization that inhabited the Nazca plateau did not have any aircraft. Neither balloons, neither airplanes, nor even rockets existed in prehistoric times. So how could they recreate their drawings with such precision, without being able to evaluate the work done and find flaws in order to correct them?! This remains as much a mystery as the functionality of the images of the Nazca Plateau. Why were they created? Is it really just for the sake of aesthetic beauty or maybe for some religious purposes? Question, question and another unanswered question.

It is generally difficult for modern people to understand logic distant ancestors. We don’t understand people who lived a hundred years ago; how can we understand the motives of those who lived thousands, two thousand years ago. It is quite possible that all the lines and images of the Nazca Plateau have no practical component at all? The ancient people created them to show that they were capable of this. But why was it necessary to spend so much effort and time on self-affirmation?! Wouldn't it be easier to untie another war, in ancient times this seems to have been a much more common practice?!

Nazca drawings and related theories.

Scientists are confident that behind the creation mysterious drawings on the territory of the plateau stands a person no less than those who believe that Nazca drawings were created by an alien race. In their opinion, all the images and lines on the plateau are nothing more than runways. The version affecting Peru, the Nazca plateau, of course, has the right to life, it remains unclear why spaceships aliens did not have vertical take-off, or why create runways in the bizarre shape of earthly animals? If you wanted to stand out in this way, why not make a couple of Nazca drawings in the shape of the fauna that live in your world? However, it is better not to focus on this, because theories and guesses regarding the motives of alien creators seem even more elusive than the motivation of the first people.

It is better to pay attention to this: Nazca drawings in the form of animals, birds and insects were created much earlier than simple triangles and other geometric shapes. This is not a confirmed fact, the theory is still under development, however, even now most of scientists agree that this is so, complex drawings The Nazcas were created earlier simple images and trenches. Be that as it may, a simple conclusion suggests itself: did unknown masters first make more complex forms, obviously created in several stages, and only then other people began to practice drawing straight lines and trapezoids. Or maybe over the long centuries it took to create the drawings for which the desert is famous Nazca on the map, did the masters of ancient civilization lose technology or simply forget how to create complex images? All these are just more questions, the answers to which we, apparently, will not get very, very soon, if ever.

At the same time, there are a few people in the scientific community who believe that all Nazca drawings were made in the same period. But what scientists agree on is the idea that certain representatives of the ancient Nazca people had knowledge of astronomy.

For example, Maria Reiche (1903-1998), a German mathematician and archaeologist who worked on mysterious lines for almost 50 years, once claimed that the Nazca drawing in the form of a huge spider is very reminiscent of a star cluster in the constellation Orion. Three straight lines lead to the figure; they presumably served to track changes in the declinations of the three brightest stars in Orion's Belt: Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka.

There is another very interesting theory involving the Nazca figures. Archaeologist Johan Reinhard, who is American by birth, believes that the lines and figures of the animals were part of religious rites or, at least, were built for some religious purposes. The figures of animals, insects and birds were supposedly associated with the worship of gods. With the help of Nazca drawings, people asked the celestials for water to irrigate their lands. It’s not entirely clear how exactly this ritual took place, but it doesn’t matter; what’s more important is whether it took place at all? It is obvious that the ancient people were novices of the pagan faith and, as in any such religion, the cult of the gods occupies central place not only in religion, but also in Everyday life of people. It is likely that the Nazca civilization actually carried out certain rituals to worship its deities, but it is almost impossible to prove this.

Today, the attention of researchers from all over the world is not focused on the Nazca drawings or even on the mysteries surrounding them. While people are speculating and guessing, a serious environmental threat looms over the plateau. Deforestation and environmental pollution do not change better side balanced and practically unchanged climate of the plain. The Nazca Plate is facing problems: it rains more and more often, landslides and other misfortunes occur, one way or another affecting the integrity of the images. This is a very serious threat and if nothing is done in the next 5-10 years, or maybe less, the Nazca drawings will be lost forever, and then there is no doubt that answers to the questions posed by the research community will never be obtained. We will certainly never know who and why created this, without exaggeration, wonderful and unique phenomenon.